Table of Contents

American Public Opinion and U.S. Foreign Policy, 1998 (ICPSR 2747)

Principal Investigator(s):
Chicago Council on Foreign Relations

Summary:

This study is part of a quadrennial series designed to
investigate the opinions and attitudes of the general public and a
select group of opinion leaders on matters relating to foreign policy,
and to define the parameters of public opinion within which
decision-makers must operate. Through telephone surveys, general
public respondents (Part 2) were interviewed October 15-November 10,
1998, and opinion leaders (Part 1) were interviewed November
2-December 21, 1998. Respondents were asked to assess their level of
interest in the news and specifically in foreign policy. Respondents
were also asked whether concern for foreign policy is important in a
presidential candidate, and their views were sought on the foreign
policy records of President Bill Clinton and former presidents George
Bush, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford, Richard Nixon, Lyndon
Johnson, John F. Kennedy, Dwight Eisenhower, and Harry Truman. Those
queried were asked for their opinions on economic aid to foreign
nations, including Egypt, Poland, Russia, Israel, and African
nations. In addition, respondents were asked to rate the Clinton
administration on foreign policy, trade policy, immigration policy,
United States relations with China, Japan, and Russia, international
terrorism, the situation in the former Yugoslavia, the Arab-Israeli
peace process, the situation in Iraq, nuclear proliferation, the
situation in Northern Ireland, and the Asian financial crisis. Views
were also sought on whether United States' vital interests were
present in Egypt, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Israel, Canada, Brazil,
Russia, Haiti, Bosnia, Indonesia, Kuwait, Great Britain, Saudi Arabia,
China, France, the Baltic nations, South Korea, Poland, South Africa,
Taiwan, Cuba, India, Turkey, Iran, and Afghanistan. A series of
questions addressed potential threats to those vital
interests. Additional topics covered the foreign policy goals of the
United States, bloodshed in the 21st century, measures to combat
international terrorism, the United States' commitment to the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the United States' contributions
to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and United States
involvement in United Nations peacekeeping operations. Respondents
were asked to rate their feelings toward Great Britain, Saudi Arabia,
China, France, Taiwan, South Korea, Cuba, Argentina, Pakistan,
Nigeria, Turkey, Italy, Russia, North Korea, Germany, Iran, Japan,
Mexico, Israel, Iraq, India, Canada, and Brazil. Respondents were also
asked for their opinions of President Bill Clinton, Russian President
Boris Yeltsin, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Pope John Paul
II, former President George Bush, former President Jimmy Carter,
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, South African President Nelson
Mandela, European Union President Jacques Santer, Cuban President
Fidel Castro, Chinese President Jiang Zemin, British Prime Minister
Tony Blair, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian Leader Yasser Arafat, French President
Jacques Chirac, and Serbian President Slobodan Milosovic. Further
queries focused on whether United States troops should be used if
North Korea invaded South Korea, if Iraq invaded Saudi Arabia, if Arab
forces invaded Israel, if Russia invaded Poland, if the Cuban people
attempted to overthrow the Castro regime, if China invaded Taiwan, or
if Serbian forces killed large numbers of ethnic
Albanians. Respondents were asked whether they supported the use of
economic sanctions against Cuba, Iraq, Iran, North Korea, and
China. Additional topics covered the elimination of tariffs,
globalization, the establishment of a Palestinian state, the United
States' role as a world leader, United States federal government
program spending, and whether the United States should pay the $1.6
billion owed to the United Nations. Opinion leaders were asked an
additional question about the possible threat of the "euro" (the
unified monetary system to be implemented in January 1999 by the
European Union) to the United States dollar's supremacy as a reserve
currency. Background information on general public respondents
includes age, race, sex, political party, political orientation,
religion, marital status, spouse's employment status, age of children
in household, amount of time spent at home, employment status,
occupation, position in household, education, home ownership status,
and household income. Background information on opinion leaders
includes age, sex, education, political party, and political
orientation.

This study is part of a quadrennial series designed to
investigate the opinions and attitudes of the general public and a
select group of opinion leaders on matters relating to foreign policy,
and to define the parameters of public opinion within which
decision-makers must operate. Through telephone surveys, general
public respondents (Part 2) were interviewed October 15-November 10,
1998, and opinion leaders (Part 1) were interviewed November
2-December 21, 1998. Respondents were asked to assess their level of
interest in the news and specifically in foreign policy. Respondents
were also asked whether concern for foreign policy is important in a
presidential candidate, and their views were sought on the foreign
policy records of President Bill Clinton and former presidents George
Bush, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford, Richard Nixon, Lyndon
Johnson, John F. Kennedy, Dwight Eisenhower, and Harry Truman. Those
queried were asked for their opinions on economic aid to foreign
nations, including Egypt, Poland, Russia, Israel, and African
nations. In addition, respondents were asked to rate the Clinton
administration on foreign policy, trade policy, immigration policy,
United States relations with China, Japan, and Russia, international
terrorism, the situation in the former Yugoslavia, the Arab-Israeli
peace process, the situation in Iraq, nuclear proliferation, the
situation in Northern Ireland, and the Asian financial crisis. Views
were also sought on whether United States' vital interests were
present in Egypt, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Israel, Canada, Brazil,
Russia, Haiti, Bosnia, Indonesia, Kuwait, Great Britain, Saudi Arabia,
China, France, the Baltic nations, South Korea, Poland, South Africa,
Taiwan, Cuba, India, Turkey, Iran, and Afghanistan. A series of
questions addressed potential threats to those vital
interests. Additional topics covered the foreign policy goals of the
United States, bloodshed in the 21st century, measures to combat
international terrorism, the United States' commitment to the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the United States' contributions
to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and United States
involvement in United Nations peacekeeping operations. Respondents
were asked to rate their feelings toward Great Britain, Saudi Arabia,
China, France, Taiwan, South Korea, Cuba, Argentina, Pakistan,
Nigeria, Turkey, Italy, Russia, North Korea, Germany, Iran, Japan,
Mexico, Israel, Iraq, India, Canada, and Brazil. Respondents were also
asked for their opinions of President Bill Clinton, Russian President
Boris Yeltsin, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Pope John Paul
II, former President George Bush, former President Jimmy Carter,
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, South African President Nelson
Mandela, European Union President Jacques Santer, Cuban President
Fidel Castro, Chinese President Jiang Zemin, British Prime Minister
Tony Blair, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian Leader Yasser Arafat, French President
Jacques Chirac, and Serbian President Slobodan Milosovic. Further
queries focused on whether United States troops should be used if
North Korea invaded South Korea, if Iraq invaded Saudi Arabia, if Arab
forces invaded Israel, if Russia invaded Poland, if the Cuban people
attempted to overthrow the Castro regime, if China invaded Taiwan, or
if Serbian forces killed large numbers of ethnic
Albanians. Respondents were asked whether they supported the use of
economic sanctions against Cuba, Iraq, Iran, North Korea, and
China. Additional topics covered the elimination of tariffs,
globalization, the establishment of a Palestinian state, the United
States' role as a world leader, United States federal government
program spending, and whether the United States should pay the $1.6
billion owed to the United Nations. Opinion leaders were asked an
additional question about the possible threat of the "euro" (the
unified monetary system to be implemented in January 1999 by the
European Union) to the United States dollar's supremacy as a reserve
currency. Background information on general public respondents
includes age, race, sex, political party, political orientation,
religion, marital status, spouse's employment status, age of children
in household, amount of time spent at home, employment status,
occupation, position in household, education, home ownership status,
and household income. Background information on opinion leaders
includes age, sex, education, political party, and political
orientation.

Study Description

Citation

Chicago Council on Foreign Relations. American Public Opinion and U.S. Foreign Policy, 1998. ICPSR02747-v2. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2000-03-15. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR02747.v2

Universe:
Part 1: Decision-makers in positions of leadership in
government, academia, business, labor, the media, religious
institutions, special interest groups, and private foreign policy
organizations. Part 2: Persons 18 years of age and older.

Data Type(s):
survey data

Data Collection Notes:

Part 2, General Population Data, contains
variables that have nonnumeric codes. The documentation specifies
these codes as 'x' and 'y', but in the data they appear as '-' instead
of 'x' and an ampersand in place of 'y'. This dataset also has variables with
undefined codes and a weight variable (card 1, columns 13-15) that has
two implied decimal places.

Producer: Gallup Organization, Princeton, NJ.

Methodology

Sample:
Part 1: Census of top-level decision makers defined by the
universe. Part 2: National probability sample.

Data Source:

personal interviews

Version(s)

Original ICPSR Release: 1999-09-15

Version History:

2000-03-15 SAS and SPSS data definition statements are now
available for this data collection, and the number of variables is now
accurately stated.

1999-11-02 The data in Part 1 have been recoded in accordance
with standard practice for ensuring respondents' anonymity.